Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

LIBERIA, whose coast is known as the Grain Coast, faces the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa,
occupying 111,000 km 2 between Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire. There are low-lying coastal
plains where most crops, including rice, are grown, and a mountainous interior with central
plateaus. Arable land is less than 5%, but agriculture contributes half of the country’s GDP.
General information
• Internal renewable water resources: 200 km 3
• Incoming water flow: 32 km 3
• Main food consumed: rice, roots and tubers,
oil and fat, fruits, sugar
• Rice consumption, 1999: 54.9 kg milled rice
per person per year
Production constraints
There are several constraints to sustainable rice
production in Liberia:
• Dominance of upland shifting cultivation
• Drought stress, low soil fertility, erosion of
soil and soil fertility in upland areas
• Blast and weed competition
• Poor drainage, iron toxicity in undeveloped
swamps
• Inadequate and irregular input supplies:
seeds, fertilizer, and credit
• Lack of small farm equipment, especially
for postharvest operations
• Lack of a well-defined rice policy
• Poor road networks and marketing systems
• Weak research and extension support
• Recently, deterioration of security situation
Production season
Planting Harvesting
Main season Apr-Jul Sep-Dec
184 Rice almanac